“Harry Kane is not old fashioned, he is the present and the future. We are so proud he is in our side,” Pochettino said when an interviewer asked about Kane’s “proper old-fashioned centre forward’s header”.

“In the second half we found space and created problems. It should have been 3-0.”

In stark contrast, this was another dispiriting day for Arsenal in a season already marred by too many painful moments.

Arsenal’s first defeat in 10 visits to Wembley is a huge blow to their hopes of returning to the Champions League.

The Gunners fell seven points behind Tottenham and are six adrift of the top four.

“Once they scored you could see we were wobbling and they could have scored more but in the last 10 minutes we should have come back to 1-1,” Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said.

“The first goal was key and we conceded it. Kane made the difference.”

From the start, it was clear Tottenham would be the aggressors in the latest meeting between these eternal rivals in front of a Premier League record crowd of 83,222.

Kane’s clever flick sent Dele Alli racing clear and when he whipped over a low cross, Shkodran Mustafi poked an attempted clearance towards his own goal, forcing Petr Cech to make a save.